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From the Desk of Trevor Potter
Describing the first 100 days of the Trump administration is like trying to describe the destruction wrought by a massive storm. Debris lies all around, with the rule of law and our constitutional system of checks and balances shaken to the core. And the storm rages on, as millions of resolute citizens and organizations like Campaign Legal Center (CLC) stand against the threat to our system of self-government posed by Trump’s agenda.

In surveying the scope of the rubble, it’s easy to miss items of great consequence. For instance, it’s now an afterthought that a presidential candidate convicted of serious election-related crimes ([link removed]) stepped into the White House on January 20.

Two shocking actions on the very first day of this administration are now receiving little attention.
First, the pardon of more than 1,500 people ([link removed]) convicted of crimes associated with the violent January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, to prevent the certification of the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Second, the firing of independent inspectors general across 17 federal agencies ([link removed]) marking the beginning of a broad effort to eliminate oversight and accountability for the President and his administration.

These early steps proved to be harbingers of an unprecedented, lawless executive overreach campaign, the likes of which we have never seen before in this country.

Since the opening days of Trump 2.0, CLC has actively confronted the new authoritarian threat and proudly defended the Constitution, the rule of law and the values that make our democracy strong.

We will continue to wage this battle on behalf of the American people in the courts, in the halls of Congress and in the press. We do this not only because it is our mission, but because we understand that failure to oppose tyranny is the surest way to guarantee its spread.

As the nation reflects on all that has happened since January 20, I would like to focus on a few developments I find particularly alarming and the steps CLC is taking to address this crisis.

Free and fair elections targeted
Well before assuming office again, Trump was well known as a purveyor of misinformation about our elections, particularly the lie that he won re-election in 2020. In the wake of January 6, CLC spent the better part of four years advocating for and seeing to the implementation of a new law — the Electoral Count Reform Act ([link removed]) — to protect the electoral process from conspiracy-driven attempts to overturn the will of the voters, as we saw in 2020.

This battle continues as attacks on the integrity of our elections and the freedom to vote intensify under this new administration. We are currently focused on fighting two illegal executive orders: One attempting to exert Presidential control over federal agencies — such as the Federal Election Commission (FEC) — designated as independent by Congress, and another seeking to interfere with the electoral process in ways that could disenfranchise millions of voters.

CLC is calling on FEC commissioners to reject the first executive order ([link removed]) , because no president should be able to weaponize the only federal agency tasked with enforcing campaign finance law and regulating political activities, including activities by the President and his party.

We are also representing several organizations in court ([link removed]) challenging the dangerous executive order purporting to assert presidential control over the actual voting process. This order violates the Constitution’s clear language giving the states and Congress — not the president — exclusive power to govern the conduct of our elections.

In a victory for voters, a U.S. District Court judge just days ago granted our request ([link removed]) to put a key portion of that order on hold that would have imposed burdensome and unnecessary documentation requirements for voter registration. Her opinion spells out in detail ([link removed]) the president’s lack of constitutional powers to interfere in the election process, and her clarity on this subject will be very useful going forward.

Ethical standards discarded in the quest for unchecked power
One of the most important, but often underappreciated, elements of our democracy is the web of norms, government rules, regulations and oversight bodies that are meant to ensure elected officials and those under their supervision act in the public interest instead of their own self-interest. These anti-corruption guardrails are key to preventing abuses of power.

CLC has worked very hard to shine a spotlight ([link removed]) on the Trump administration’s abandonment of these guardrails, which began even before Trump was sworn in, ([link removed]) along with his cabinet nominations and his refusal to put his own assets in a blind trust, as other presidents have done. Beyond the firings of inspectors general mentioned earlier, the Trump cabinet today is rife with conflicts of interest ([link removed]) . We’ve demanded an investigation into a conflict involving
Elon Musk, head of the U.S. DOGE Service, and his apparent efforts to win Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) business ([link removed]) for one of his companies.

There’s also the irony of a president who once infamously promised to “drain the swamp” ([link removed]) appointing numerous former lobbyists ([link removed]) to lead offices in the agencies they once sought to influence.

The lesson of history, demonstrated as recently as Trump’s first term ([link removed]) , is that when ethics guardrails are ignored, self-dealing and corruption overwhelm our government, at the expense of the public interest.

The overwhelming influence of big money in politics on display
The high-profile vehicle for much of Trump’s unconstitutional power grab has been DOGE. CLC is representing organizations in an important lawsuit accusing DOGE and Musk ([link removed]) of illegally usurping Congress’s power to dictate how taxpayer dollars are spent.

We find ourselves in this predicament following a presidential campaign where Musk used his massive wealth to spend nearly $300 million to elect President Trump. This is a stark example of what happens when powerful special interests are allowed to drown out the voices of voters, exerting outsized influence on our elections and, ultimately, on the government itself.

It is worth noting that Musk’s huge role in the election came thanks, in part, to an outrageously wrong FEC decision over last spring that cleared the way ([link removed]) for candidates to coordinate with supportive “outside independent” Super PACs on activities like get-out-the-vote campaigns. As has happened in the past, a Democratic group asked for an advisory opinion from the Commission to allow greater coordination. Then, the Republican campaigns, Trump and Musk took advantage of this new FEC loophole to drive a truck through the campaign finance laws.

Without a more proactive FEC ([link removed]) and commonsense reforms to promote greater transparency and accountability, the structural problems with our campaign finance system will persist beyond the Trump administration.

A president determined to silence critics
Trump’s rhetoric during the 2024 campaign betrayed a desire to use the power of the executive branch to punish his critics and intimidate others. Such behavior is the hallmark of an authoritarian leader, and Trump has put this tactic into practice on an alarming scale.

Important independent elements of American civil society find themselves under attack, including journalistic institutions, universities and other nonprofits. The president has even gone so far as to issue executive orders directing the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate specific individuals, a move that I, along with more than 200 others, repudiated in a recent open letter ([link removed]) .

I also added my voice ([link removed]) to the chorus of those opposing the president’s use of executive orders to intimidate the legal profession. These directives, which seek to hurt prominent law firms financially, are clearly designed to make lawyers think twice about representing any client who may have a valid legal claim against actions by the Trump White House.

Reining in a lawless executive
It is reasonable to tie Trump’s emboldened posture to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling granting the president legal immunity ([link removed]) for any act deemed within the scope of his official duties. A reminder, though, that the ruling does not extend this protection to other executive branch officials and does not forbid lawsuits challenging executive actions (as we have seen over the last few months).

To be clear: The president is entitled to pursue his policy agenda within the bounds of the Constitution and the law. That is what the American people expect from their elected leaders. Unfortunately, the first 100 days of the Trump administration ([link removed]) were dominated by efforts to rush through an agenda in ways that are contrary to law and violate core constitutional separation of powers principles.

Campaign Legal Center is built to face this challenge and is fighting to prevent the next 100 days from being as destructive as the first. We will continue standing with Americans who believe we must meet the moment ([link removed]) or risk losing the democracy so many have fought to protect and advance for nearly 250 years.
Sincerely,

Trevor Potter
President, Campaign Legal Center

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